Kiln Alchemy :)

Just got some work out of the kiln that I am really excited about! As you may recall, I was not getting a lot of results that I was super crazy about w/ the recycled clay I was using this semester. After seeing some results a classmate had using a darker (but more expensive) clay body, I figured I'd give it a go. I had actually used this clay while taking a class @ Santa Fe Clay last year & had liked some of the results, but never achieved results like this. FYI~ these were all fired in the soda kiln, which is also a new experience for me... & I find the results quite intriguing.

Laguna Dark Brown Clay- Spotted Shino inside, Coleman Teadust outside, Salt Fired, Cone 10

It's my favorite piece of the semester so far!

Check out the inside surface- It is truly Alchemy!

I tested it on one of my little bears too & thought it made for an interesting surface.

I ended up making 32 of these little guys. I was going to glaze them all like this, but I changed my mind. While I'll definitely glaze some more like this, I also wanted to test some other glazes. I currently have 12 still drying, 10 in the bisque kiln & 9 glazed & awaiting firing.

Interestingly, this bowl was dipped in the same glaze as the top one, but 2 dips instead of one- the effect came out totally different. I like it o.k, but nearly as much as the top one.

This was a test cup. The glaze was made in my glaze calc class from mixing 1/2 of the slop from my Satin Mint Triaxial & 1/2 of the slop from a classmates triaxial (Peach Bloom Glaze- modified.) It's a little drippy, but I like it for inside surfaces. (I also tested this clay on one of the bears w/ the dark brown clay- can't wait to see how it turns out!)

More test cups- using Ann's Soda Clay, flashing slip, Purple Haze liner & dip.

Ooooh, I also got all my new triaxial tests back, minus 1 tile that went MIA. (It's like the 1 sock that goes missing when you do laundry!) I retested the Ann's Soda clay body on the left, and High Hills on the right. 

Out of the 21 points on the triaxial, these 3 were my favorites. I hope to use a combo of these three to glaze the big bear, which has been patiently waiting on my shelf for the past 6 weeks or so! We are quickly coming up towards the end of the semester- just when I feel I'm getting into the swing of things. I've been super busy, trying to get as much done as I can... because the more I do, the more I learn... and that learning is just good stuff!

:)

Results!

Just got a fired piece out of the kiln yesterday, and I'm pretty excited about it! I made this bear back in Feb, but have been working on testing glazes in my glaze calc class & wanted to come up w/ something cool before I glazed it.

Soda Fired Bear, Satin Mint Green (modified) glaze.
Height 3 1/2" Width 5" Length 8 1/2"

 This glaze is actually the same glaze (Satin Mint Green "Slop" in which the glaze recipe was modified w/ added copper carb & rutile) I was testing on my previous post. While the test bowl & cup which were soda fired on a recycled clay body did have the elements of green I was looking for, the bear (which was made from Ann's Soda Clay) came out totally different than the test tiles. Not what I expected, but I have to say, I quite like the results!

I've added several different angles just to show the different color variations attained w/ the same glaze. I believe this is partially due to the properties of the glaze itself, but also due to the varying thickness of glaze poured over, as well as effects from the soda kiln. The darkest color on the feet is simply the color of the clay body when soda fired.  From my tests, I found that this glaze is quite drippy, so I left about 3/4" of the feet unglazed, and I still had problems w/ the glaze dripping off, in a rather inconsistent manner. This may be an issue when I when I fire the big bear, but I hope to remedy this by spraying the glaze on lightly. 

Speaking of which, I did a another full round of glaze testing last weekend (the campus was actually closed- so I mixed my glaze recipe last week & took it home to do the triaxial.) I'm retesting the Ann's Soda Clay & testing the High Hills clay body, of which the big bear is made.

They're going in the kiln this week & should be out Monday, along w/ about 13 pieces from my wheel throwing class~  Iooking forward to seeing the results!

:)

Glaze Test Results & Other Clay Stuff

 We just got our test results out of the kiln for the triaxial glaze tests we did a couple of weeks ago... and let me tell you, I found the results pretty exciting! It is totally amazing to me that just very slight variations in color combos give such a wide range of results and totally change the effect of the glaze.

The tiles above were fired in the gas kiln. The top tile is the base recipe for "Satin Mint Green," while the left corner is the same recipe w/ copper carb added, & the right corner is the base w/ added rutile. All the tiles in between are variations of the three.

We fired 2 sets of tiles~ gas on the left, and the soda kiln on the right. (My soda tiles 4, 16 & 21 went MIA, but I'm hoping they show up when the next soda kiln is unloaded.) Click on image twice to enlarge to see detail in the test tiles & how the same glaze gets totally different effects in the soda kiln.

Above is a line test that I did w/ a classmate. We took the "slop" (mixture of the three color points on the triaxial) from each of our glazes & mixed various percentages of each~ Satin Mint green on the left & Easy Red on the right. Pretty fascinating, eh?!

This bowl is the result of taking the "slop" from my Satin Mint recipe & applying it to a piece. The tiles are great for testing, but it is nice to how it looks on actual work. The glaze went on really thick, and did run off the pot a bit in the soda kiln, but I love the effects!

This piece was also glazed w/ the Satin Mint Green (dipped in point "C" on the bottom, "slop" on the top, and point "B" in the middle- from the triaxial test) & soda fired~ it really ran off the mug! But, I was not dismayed! The reason I picked this glaze to test is that I am trying to come up w/ something cool for my larger bear sculpture. I chose to dip the mug in various percentages of the glaze tests to see how it would react... and I am thinking the results are turning out really cool! Problem is, I made the larger piece on a different clay body... which changes everything, and so far my test tiles on that clay body look totally different than the effect shown here. Will have to run more tests!

:)

Recycled Clay, Spotted Shino~ full dip, then Bailey's Red over

We also got some work back from my wheel throwing class. Out of 6 or so pieces, this was the only one I liked! Most of my bowls were thick & clunky, and I am having difficulty achieving consistent results on the recycled clay I am using. For example, the Spotted Shino you see in the middle stripe above has also turned out almost pure white, orangey satin & gray! 

More bowls... after I finished the last bag of recycle, I switched to a dark brown clay that I've used in the past. I still have quite a few recycled bowls to glaze, but I am hopeful that I'll get some cooler results w/ the rich, dark clay body.

And, yes, the bears are still multiplying.

I figured I'd do ten, which turned into twenty-three... so far. One of the guys in my class suggested I do 100! Don't have time for all that presently, but should get 30 or so done & ready to be fired in the next couple of weeks. Keeping busy, to say the least, & am really enjoying my classes this semester!

:)

Lessons in Non-Attachment the Clay Way

I've spoke of these lessons before~ you create, you may grow to love what you create, and then, sometimes... you have to let it go. It's all really very zen if you think about it. I started this Micaceous pot back in early Feb~ a "casserole dish for one." (Sometimes a regular size casserole is just a bit more than you really need!)

My Micaceous Class doesn't start 'til May... but what I am beginning to learn about myself is that my passion for clay knows no bounds, and while taking 2 classes & working certainly is enough... I can't seem to help from working on these pots & making the bears on the side. Which leaves precious little time for the other life stuff... but I digress. Back to the pot. Looks like a chocolate cake, doesn't it?

:)

Things were going along just fine, and I was fairly happy w/ the size & shape of it.

But, with clay, as is with life... timing is everything. I cut the lid before it was time... and as it was drying, it warped & cracked... rendering my lid useless.

But, you know me... I rarely give up (though sometimes perhaps I should!) So I figured I'd try making another lid. 

Now, keep in mind, the pot itself was already fairly dry, so trying to find the right size puki to build my lid in was a bit challenging considering I had to try to accommodate/guess about the shrinkage rate.

This was a good start. I figured I could go back & make repairs & fill in the gaps later to get a good lid fit. (Now that is one thing I love about Micaceous clay- the ability to make such repairs, or add handles, or fill cracks when the clay is in a dry state. You really can't get away with that w/ the commercially processed clays.)

Above, getting ready to add the handle, below the new lid & the original warped & cracked one.

Hmmm... well, I figured I could repair this crack, too... though it was in a risky spot~ at the bottom of the pot near where I had added my first coil.

I figured what the heck... I'll fill it (as I was in the process of doing in the pic above) sand it, polish it, burnish it... it'll be fine. But after speaking w/ my instructor, I found that these particular cracks are persnickety about repairs. They will often show up again as hairline cracks where the repairs are done- after they are fired... or worse, when on the stovetop. Soooooo, after all that work and all that time spent, I must say goodbye to this pot (and dang it~ note the much better lid fit!)

It only took a few minutes to return to the mud from which it started. It'll be recycled & mixed in w/ more clay to have life again as a new pot in the not-too-distant future. I do have one more pot this happened to, but I just couldn't quite throw it into the slop bucket yet! I may try firing it just to see what happens. It's all a learning process either way, so we'll see! And while the Clay will teach you these lessons in non- attachment over & over again... sometimes, well, you just cling to a special piece... not wanting to let go. I'm getting much better with this issue in my wheel throwing class-if it's not going the way I like, I have far less problems w/ recycling it, or if a potentially nice pot turns out crappy because of my glaze experimentations, I can generally let that go as well. I think the time involvement (many hours for one pot) is the reason I become so attached to the Mica Clay Pots, but perhaps in time, I'll learn to let that go, too.

:)

Quick Trip to Tombstone, Az

Why Tombstone? Well, it's roughly the halfway point in between Santa Fe & San Diego, & mom, grams & I thought it would be fun to meet up for a couple of days while I was on break from class.

 Tombstone was a big silver boom town during the late 1800's, but perhaps most famously noted in history for the Shoot Out at the O.K. Corral, involving Wyatt Earp & his clan. For info on history & tourism, click here.

While the history of the area is quite interesting, the town today is based around tourism and has the feel of a modern day theme park. Most of the old historic buildings are now gift shops & eateries, and there are cowboys on most corners, trying to entice you to go to various "shoot outs," or ride the guided trollies or stage coaches... all for 7- 10 bucks a pop per person.

Streets of Tombstone

At that price, one could go go broke being a tourist in Tombstone! We chose to do only a couple of things~ the stagecoach ride, which gave an interesting narrative of the history of the area, and one Shoot Out... at the O.K. Corral, of course!

After the shoot out, the guys were nice enough to pose w/ all the tourists.

Below~ Doc Holliday, Gram, Mom, Wyatt Earp & his brothers.

:)

O.k., truth be told, we also decided to meet to work on our pots together & just hang out a bit. Mom had a Micaceous pot that was sanded & ready for slip application & polishing, thus needed a demo... here she is working away on her pot at our place in T-stone.

Below, our polished pots ready to be bisqued~ which will hopefully occur some time in June. (I had started the pot on the left waaaay back in Oct of last year, but class ended before I had a chance to finish it! I am also amazed the pot on the right is only mom's 2nd pot- she is a quick study!)

Gramma also brought her violin along to play for us. Pardon the videography... I don't have a video recorder, so I had to use my point & shoot camera to record her playing, but didn't want to miss capturing the moment.

Unfortunately, my camera video function cut off the end of the tune, but it still is quite lovely, & seemed fitting to the background of the Wild West.

:)

Oh, p.s.~ if you should decide to visit Tombstone, we found a quite lovely little place to stay @ the Lucky Cuss Cottages- for 99 bucks a night, you get a quaint little 2 bedroom cottage with a full kitchen... it suited our needs perfectly, and had much more charm than a motel room!

Clay Updates...

Well, I'm officially on spring break for the semester... and I have to admit, it's nice to have a little down time.  Here's a little bit of what I've been up to in my clay classes~ last week in glaze calc we did tests via Triaxials, vs. the line blends we had been doing up until this point.

You start by mixing up a base glaze (I chose Satin Mint Green~ which in the glaze books looks a very pale green w/ some light caramel undertones~ I'm hoping to make a nice glaze for some projects I'm working on...) then you divide the glaze into 3 buckets- A, B, & C. A is your base glaze, and to C & B buckets, you add a percentage of other colors.

You then measure out in various percentages from each bucket to create 21 different variations & dip the tiles to test. Exciting stuff, no? 

Looking forward to seeing the results once they're fired, which should be some time next week.

Also still working on my throwing skills! Inconsistent, yes, but perhaps a bit better.

Trimming bowls, throwing cylinders, putting handles on mugs.

Also got about 6 pieces out of the kiln last week. About 1/2 were total junkers... but these combos I found interesting.

While the bowl itself is nothing special, I do love it as I used some of the glazes we mixed in glaze calc class on this one. It was from the "slop buckets," which are basically leftovers from our tests... but I had to try it on an actual piece, rather than just looking at test tiles. Kinda cool.

This one was from standard glazes we use in class. The dip on this one was a little sloppy, but I like the color combo, and I have to admit that the "sloppiness" of the piece is growing on me as I use it.

:)

This one is funny- it's not quite a plate, & not quite a bowl... I call it a "plowl." Ha ha! Experimenting w/ dipping & sponging on glaze to form a pattern, I thought this one turned out alright.

And, last but not least... the bears! It was crazy windy & blustery yesterday- too yucky to go out for a hike, so I stayed in & made bears most of the day. I do love making those little guys. :) In other clay news, the big bear made it out of the kiln intact (Yay!) & hopefully I'll get it glazed here in the next few weeks, depending on how the glaze testing goes. But in the meantime, I think I'll be taking a little well deserved clay break.

:)